Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Iran’s response to domestic protests, the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on the U.S. Federal Reserve, and allegations of genocide against Myanmar.
Intervention or Negotiations?
After two weeks of mass anti-government protests, Iran’s authoritarian regime is seeking to toe the line between escalating its bloody crackdown against the opposition and averting possible U.S. military intervention.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Iran’s response to domestic protests, the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on the U.S. Federal Reserve, and allegations of genocide against Myanmar.
Intervention or Negotiations?
After two weeks of mass anti-government protests, Iran’s authoritarian regime is seeking to toe the line between escalating its bloody crackdown against the opposition and averting possible U.S. military intervention.
“We are not looking for war, but we are prepared for war—even more prepared than the previous war,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday, seemingly referring to Tehran’s 12-day conflict with Israel last June that also saw the United States launch military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Protests first ignited on Dec. 28 over Iran’s high inflation rate and plummeting currency, which trades at more than 1.4 million rial to $1. Fighting with Israel last summer drained the country’s limited financial resources, further compounding the economic hardships from years of U.S. and European sanctions.
But the start of 2026 saw the demonstrations spiral into a larger movement aimed at the Iranian regime, led by 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The government response has been brutal. In just 15 days, Iranian forces have killed nearly 600 people and detained around 10,600 others, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Although internet blackouts and cut phone lines have made exact estimates of the protests’ size and geographical spread difficult, experts suggest that the protests are the most serious domestic threat the regime has faced since mass demonstrations broke out in 2022 over the Iranian morality police’s alleged killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Araghchi insisted on Monday that the situation in the country had “come under total control” and accused Western powers of turning the peaceful protests “violent and bloody to give an excuse” to intervene. Iranian state media on Monday showed large crowds of regime supporters rallying in Tehran and other cities, chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone protesting against the government will be considered an “enemy of God,” which carries the death penalty in Iran.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his threat to militarily intervene to curb Tehran’s repression campaign. “We’re looking at it very seriously, the military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “I’m getting an hourly report, and we’re going to make a determination.” He added that he spoke to the “leaders of Iran” on Saturday to discuss potential negotiations, though he did not provide specifics.
Araghchi has since said that Iran is also “ready for negotiations” and has open communication channels with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
However, hawkish lawmakers in both the United States and Iran are pushing for harsher measures. On Sunday, U.S. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News that if he were Trump, “I would kill the leadership that are killing the people.” In a similar vein, Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued a grave warning: “Let us be clear. In the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories [Israel] as well as all U.S. bases and ships will be our legitimate target.”
Today’s Most Read
The World This Week
Tuesday, Jan. 13: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosts Polish President Karol Nawrocki.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung begins a two-day trip to Japan to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Wednesday, Jan. 14: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosts Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney begins a four-day trip to China.
Thursday, Jan. 15: Uganda holds a general election.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni begins a three-day trip to Japan before traveling to South Korea.
Saturday, Jan. 17: The European Union-Mercosur trade deal is signed in Paraguay.
Sunday, Jan. 18: Portugal holds a presidential election.
Monday, Jan. 19: The World Economic Forum kicks off its annual conference in Davos, Switzerland.
What We’re Following
Fight at the Fed. The Trump administration has ramped up its pressure campaign against the U.S. Federal Reserve, with the Justice Department issuing subpoenas to Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday as part of an investigation related to Powell’s testimony to Congress last summer regarding oversight of the multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed’s headquarters.
In a rare public statement, Powell on Sunday said that the investigation “is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings” but rather “is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”
“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,” Powell added.
Trump has repeatedly demanded that Powell cut interest rates, claiming that the Fed’s decision not to do so is hurting the U.S. economy. However, Powell maintains that current central bank policy is in the public’s best interests. His refusal to bow to presidential demands has worsened his rift with Trump in recent months, leading the U.S. president to threaten to fire Powell despite the chair being legally protected from such action.
Trump on Sunday denied that the Justice Department subpoenas are meant to pressure Powell on interest rates.
Allegations of genocide. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) began public hearings on Monday in a landmark case accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against its mostly Muslim Rohingya minority. This is the first genocide case that the U.N.’s top court is hearing in full in more than a decade, and it could have widespread repercussions for how allegations of genocide are determined going forward, including concerning South Africa’s similar ICJ case against Israel over its war in Gaza.
Gambia has accused Myanmar of subjecting the Rohingya to the “most horrific violence and destruction one could imagine.” At least 730,000 Rohingya have been forcibly displaced since Myanmar’s armed forces launched its initial offensive in October 2016 before its larger one several months later.
A U.N.-mandated independent fact-finding mission said in a 2018 report that the mission had “established consistent patterns of serious human rights violations and abuses” as well as “serious violations of international humanitarian law … principally committed by the Myanmar security forces, particularly the military.” It recommended “that named senior generals of the Myanmar military should be investigated and prosecuted in an international criminal tribunal for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.” Myanmar denies all allegations of genocide. The ICJ’s hearings are expected to last three weeks.
Political asylum. Hungary granted former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro asylum on Monday, widening the diplomatic rift between Budapest and Warsaw. “I decided to take advantage of the asylum granted to me by the Hungarian government due to political repression in Poland,” Ziobro wrote on X, claiming that he is the subject of a witch hunt orchestrated by Poland’s pro-EU leader, Donald Tusk.
When Poland’s nationalist Law and Justice party was in power, Ziobro enacted changes to Warsaw’s judicial system that the EU said undermined rule of law in the country. Since Tusk took power in late 2023, Warsaw has sought to prosecute Ziobro for allegedly misusing money allocated to help victims of crime, accusing him of instead spending the funds on Pegasus spyware and to target political opponents.
“A former justice minister fleeing the Polish justice system like a coward. A complete downfall!” Polish cabinet minister Tomasz Siemoniak wrote on X on Monday.
Odds and Ends
As China grapples with population decline, a new app is checking on the health of the country’s citizens. “Are You Dead?”—which requires users to check in every two days or else have their emergency contact notified—has become the most popular paid app for Chinese Apple Store customers. The app is particularly popular among young people living alone (despite Beijing taking steps to promote marriage and birthrates) and older adults without relatives nearby. And you thought Duolingo notifications were threatening.
